Baganbari Mosque Design Competition Entry

The Common Place.

Baganbari Mosque Design Competition Entry In Collaboration With

Sumaya Hasan

Uzma Alam

x Prinia

Abbasi Khanm

Asad Hossen

Atelier Archscape

Project Brief The aim of the competition was to design a modern, practical and functional mosque for the neighbourhood of Baganbari, Malibagh. There is an existing mosque on the site which will be demolished over the time of constructing the proposed mosque.

Therefore, the main purpose of this competition is to get a more efficient and realistic design solution for the future mosque which will serve the expected population growth of the neighbourhood in better way. The mosque will have to be designed in a way so that during the construction, phase wise building activities can take place for seamless prayer.

The design must include a physical masterplan which will be cost and energy efficient, and will have the needed amount of greenery, including consideration of the sensitivity to the socio-economic culture, history of the neighbourhood and urban setting.

The mosque will be a part of the community, however, will maintain its own privacy from surroundings. The aim is to get maximum prayer space for the community, and required to allocate space for senior citizens and the people with disability.

Site Context The site is located at 526/1 Baganbari, Malibagh, Dhaka. This site is adjacent to Baganbari road, which is the only one way to reach the site. Baganbari road is connected to DTI road, and it is 200m away from the site. Site area is 5.634 Katha or 4056.54 sqft.

There are two buildings on the site- one is the existing mosque, and another is an old residential building which has been demolished recently. Existing mosque stands on 1750.06sqft of land (A) and additional 2306.48 sqft land (B) is vacant (the demolished old residential building site). The site is surrounded by all residential buildings, and most of them are 3 to 7 stories, and users of this mosque are mostly from this residential area. The width of the road is 3m, and people from this area mainly use Rickshaw, CNG or Bike, but most users come by pedestrian to the mosque. There is no water body in this area and with very less greenery.

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Forming relation ship with Human and Nature to celebrate the divine creation of Allah

Past Closed Fixed

Future Open Flexible

+ Mosque not only considered as a prayer hall but as an urban living space; A public life incubator

Basic space attributes of mosque is arranged in a vertical setting due to space limitation; keeping the traditional flow of functions but in a new way way

Achieving verticality to be seen from farway place

Creating a new silhouette to define the typology and forming an icon

Emphasizing on the vegetation and gardening; bringing together the spirit of Baganbari

Design Ideas The religion of Islam is built upon an understanding of the relationship between humans and nature. Many verses in the Quran urge Muslims to think deeply about creation and the miracles of the universe.

Fasting, prayer, and all other forms of worship in Islam are regulated according to the sun and the moon.

As a major part of the Islamic rituals, Muslims go to mosques to pray five times a day. Historically, Muslims didn’t go to mosques only to pray, they also went there to gather, discuss, and learn about Islam and all other aspects of life. The first mosque in Islam is the house of the prophet Mohammed, which was built in the 7th century in Medina, Saudi Arabia. It is the perfect example of a simple and functional mosque.

Its vernacular architecture resembled the concepts embraced by Islam, such as a minimal lifestyle, the clustered community, and shared prosperity. Islam prioritizes equity, charity, and public welfare before considering the extravagant details.

Inspired by this belief, We think that contemporary mosque architecture should be moreconcerned with spatial qualities rather than with decoration. To start with, we designed the prayer space as column-free, to preserve the continuity of the lines formed by worshipers, who prostrate themselves during prayer.

Curtain walls and skylights allowed natural light to change the ambiance of the prayer hall and engendered an inspiring atmosphere for prayer.

The prayer space is designed to be more inviting by increasing the transparency of the building enclosure and increasing the visibility from the outside. Solid walls are reduced to the requirements of function and security. Inviting yet ensuring a calm and silent prayer space by lifting the prayer space from the ground to create a separation from the crowd. Natural vegetation is invited inside the space to celebrate divine creation instead of depicting it on the walls.

Natural materials, rough or polished, can be forthrightly used for finishes throughout the mosque as the purest way to embrace the human connection with the Earth. Natural ventilation is ensured into the prayer hall through operable windows to sustain a healthy and uplifting environment. We considered the mosque not only as a prayer hall but also as an urban living space; creating a ‘Common Place’ for the community to meet, share and prosper.

The ambiance of the mosque is of a free-flowing, democratic public place. Furthermore, the mosque is designed to be celebrated as a verdant and breezy urban space, a rare liberating experience in this overcrowded city. With time the mosque will become a place of memories for the community; a part of their quintessential stories.

Extruding the volume on the site maintaning setback and FAR; Placing the stairwell on the back for privacy from the nearby buildings

Rotate the prayer hall according to the Qibla direction

Carve the ground volume from the building envelope to create a unique and intimate public space; lifting the prayer hall enables separation from the crowd.

Minaret

Stairwell

Prayer Public Periphrals

Placing the peripheral programs on the basment and roof level and main prayer space on the middle and thus creating a clear distintion between the programs and connecting everything with the staircase

The mosque invite passage and social interaction also ensuring silent and pure ambiance for prayers; A public life incubator

Enclosed the building envelope with natural vegetation; creating a sense of Garden to celebrate the creation of Allah

View Of The Entrance Plaza

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Site Plan

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Ground Floor Plan

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Pedestrian Entry Prayer Space for specially abled/ Bathing space for deceased Parking Parking for specially abled/ Ambulance

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7 6 2

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Basement

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Ablution Store Office Toilet Kitchen Waterpump room Electro-mechanical room Water Pump room

Ground Floor Mezanine

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Library Multipurpose Space for public interaction/ Friday prayer spcae

1st Floor

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Mihrab Prayer Hall Lobby

2nd to 4th Floor

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Prayer Hall Lobby

5th Floor

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Imam’s Room Muajjin’s Room Toilet Terrace/ Friday Prayer Space

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A. Brick Facade Detail

Muajjin’s room Imam’s room

Prayer Space B. Facade Layering With Green

Prayer Hall

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C. Interpretation Of Surah Fateh In Kufic Script On The Mimbar Wall

Prayer Hall Mihrab Library

C Specially abled prayer

Office & Store

Entry

Ablution

Kitchen Toilet

Water Tank

5th Floor

4th Floor 3rd Floor 2nd Floor

1st Floor

Mezzanine

Ground Floor

Basement

Exploded Axono Explaining the vertical programmatic relationship between each floor.

Section A-A

Section B-B

View Of The Prayer Space

Sustainable Design Strategies A number of active and passive sustainable design strategies have been considered in designing the mosque to reduce the negative environmental impact from the built environment.

West Elevation

North Elevation

South Elevation

View Of The Public Activities

View of the Ablution Space

View of the Lobby

View of the Entrance Plaza

Asad H o s s e n

Sumaya

Hasan

Prinia Khanm

Uzma Alam